We're still playin', baby!

The machine is working just fine, thank you very much! Ellis and Harington were off tonight, but hell, Pietrus and Barnes picked up and the team just kept the pressure on. Nellie was dishing defenisve plays masterfully. During the post-game interviews, even the Mavs admitted to getting rattled with Golden State's arsenal of zone and swarm plays.

The media is still in shock (and you know it, still saving some for the Mavs to come back). But now they can't do anything about it. The Warriors are playing hard, playing defense, attacking inside and outside....its the playoffs, they're winning. They can't escape it. They have to talk about the Warriors and suck it up!

Game 3 Revenge!

Each Warrior playoff game has really been a time capsule in itself. There are no wild declarations of championship goals, just happy to still be around and playing each game as if it was the last....and I think that is just plain awesome. At the end of last night's game, there was confetti all over like we'd just won it all!

The Warriors devoured the Mavs. The Addams Family slogan is repeating in my head: "we gladly feast on those who subdue us".

It's just game 3, but indeed, we savor each victory.

HA! Warriors win game 1!

"A shocker!"

"These pesky Warriors..."

I love it. Watching ESPN and listening to the tone in the newscasters' voices as they have to read their teleprompters and declare the Warriors winners of game 1. You really have to give the guys credit. They kept it close and kept themselves focused despite everything Dallas threw at 'em. So many heroes in this game, but I'm really impressed at Matt Barnes. Other than the mohawk (yeah, I know, the photo's a stock one :) ), he really made his presence felt...defense, rebounding, long range shooting, assists....all within the limited time off the bench...very commendable.

Sweet :)

Warriors make the playoffs!!!

Sweeeeet!!! Man, I am sooo proud of these guys. A lot of credit really goes to Chris Mullin for working on the lineup until he finally got the right mix of guys. The Warriors look like the underdog waiting to breakout.

Woohoo!!!

Grindhouse

Of the two films, I enjoyed Planet Terror more. Rose Magowan's Cherry Darling rocks and I thought Marley Shelton's Dr. Dakota Block and her "injection-gun" was really original. And man...trucks, trucks, trucks! Aww it was great to hear all the truck engines and watch all the heavy metal charging through all the zombies! The dialogue was just right (comapred to Death Proof's dragging conversations).

The filler trailers were fun and worth all the laughs and cheesy concepts. Danny Trejo's Machete could probably be done as a whole movie (Grindhouse 2?) in itself. Another nice treat were all the silly animations.

Death Proof as a whole had a good story but too much dialogue. But it did have clear winners: Kurt Russell, classic american muscle cars (love the sound of those big block engines), and Vanessa Ferlito :) All of Kurt Russel's dialogue were great. For some reason, I was very annoyed at all the black woman langauge....honestly, I don't think anyone else could say those lines...not unless their name happened to be Jackie Brown.

Gemma Hayes

Ran for Miles

Well I got myself a new day

And I got myself a second chance

So I headed to the bus stop

And the sun, the sun was warm on my back
Today I ran for miles

Just to see what I was made of
Today I ran for all that was mine
Well I got myself a song inside

And I got myself some full blown daylight

Wanna tell you just how hard it's been

Trying to talk myself out of jumping
Today I ran for miles

Just to see what I was made of
Today I ran for all that was mine
Today I ran for miles

Utopia

Assimilation: Complete

In constant brainwashing of the Felt Mountain album, I am hopelessly hooked 'till the end. While this outstanding album already contains Lovely Head and Pilots, the unsung hero for me is Utopia.

Current state: Junkie ;)

uuutooopia uuuutoooopia

uuuuooooouuuu uuuuuoooouuuu

:)

Ellie Parker

It was probably a bad idea to watch this on a rainy Seattle sunday. The plight of an aspiring actress in a deadbeat LA life is just plain hard on any youngster with big dreams and high hopes. You really have to carry a lot of persistence, a good support group, courage, (and a sense of humor, I think) to be able to survive the volatile life that goes with the territory.

I really liked how it was done as a camera following Ellie as she juggles between auditions, relationships, and life.

Chevy Chase makes a surprise appearance as her agent(!)

Empire of the Wolves

This is somewhat a collection of Luc Besson's characters in an alternate universe...Mathilde as a psychiatrist, Nikita as a lost woman with amnesia, and Leon as a dirty cop.

Wonderful Electric

I have this image of Ewan McGregor's character in Trainspotting, injecting a fresh dose of heroin in his vain, and in pure delight, expresses his satisfaction to his audience of friends..."it's good. it's so fucking good...(slipping into euphoria)"

Well, that's what Black Cherry is now after the tremendous high from the Supernature album, the Wonderful Electric DVDs, and quite a number of CD singles and extras that this addict has begun to acquire at such a junkie-ngly alarming rate :)

It is sooo good I've been holding off on getting Felt Mountain (the last one unaccounted for) for fear of running out of this much addictive drug. I'll have to do my best to squeeze every amount of Black Cherry first....before finally succombing to Felt Mountain.....then maybe a new album will be on the horizon.....I hope....please Alison? please?

The old crew's back!

Rich Aurilia's back, Barry B's back, Russ is back, JT's with the organization again, and the latest news is that Rob Nen's coming into the Giants organization as a special assistant! I'm really happy to see these guys back, especially JT and Nen. Now if they could just get Woody (Kirk Rueter) back in, that would make this reunion of the old crew much sweeter ;)

Flightplan

Like so many people before me (I think), I wondered how they could possibly expand this whole notion of a missing child in an airplane and make it into a movie. Well.....that's where a subplot fills the void :)

Jodie Foster did a really good job switching from one persona to the next. It's a study on character: starting out as terrified, annoying, and aggresive to borderline insanity to smart, courageous, and mother-protective of one's young (she becomes Ellen Ripley in the end of course ;) ).

Goldfrapp

After I heard Pilots and Lovely Head, I said to myself that this was pretty much it....they couldn't possibly get any better. And then I heard Black Cherry....ok....well, past that I don't know....

Enter the Supernature album.

The album is a drug. It starts out strong with Ooh LaLa, Lovely 2 CU, and Ride a White Horse. Then the brainwashing starts with You Never Know and Let It Take You. By the time you get to Fly Me Away, consider yourself assimilated. Slide In and Koko keep you addicted. Satin Chic welcomes you to the fold. Time Out from The World....well, yes, but don't count on ever coming back ;). Number 1 keeps you in wonderland. And how would you describe this whole experince: Beautiful.

Should you decide to take on this assignment, get the CD/DVD edition of Supernature...truly worth every penny.

Now if you will excuse me.....I need to get back to my hypnotherapy :)

The 07 team so far...

Ok, ok, so the dotted lines have already been signed and we're all set to see Barry Zito in orange and black! I'm really excited to see more of that rainbow curve :) I do believe that the young pitchers will learn something from him, just as they did with Schmidt's fireball-change combo. Coming from the Athletics, I see Barry bringing a great attitude and mindset in the clubhouse and I wouldn't be surprised if great chemistry comes out of this year's rotation and pen.

Now, there are still a few more items that need to be addressed. I'm praying the Giants can finally work out a deal with Florida on Armando Benitez. It just hasn't worked out for him and I'd much rather take the risk with the younger guys to take a shot at the closer's role. I wonder if Robb Nen's arm is completely healed by now......ok, ok, I'm just kidding ;)

I'm not really sure about Klesko....I'd like to think that it would give Bochy flexibility in mixing the lineup with either left or right handed bats. I just hope this doesn't become a problem with the infielder corps, namely Durham, Feliz, Vizquel, Sweeney, Aurilia, and Klesko (and lets not forget a great prospect in Kevin Frandsen). Everyone wants playing time and frequency....so I'd be interested to see how Bochy handles this situation.

Roberts, Vizquel, and Winn.....wow. Are we totally running the bases this year or what? Again, I'm interested to see how Bochy will play these guys around the sluggers, but I can't wait to see the gears roll on this one!

Let's roll!

2006 year marker

one last bit before 06 is gone...
when you see a mirror,
what do you see?
what do you do?

see ya in 07...

Life is a blast when...

I've been exposed to Tony Hawk's Project 8 commerical far too long and I just had to find out who was singing that last bit in the end. As it turns out it was Del the Funky Homosapien. I like the stomping beat and the opening lyrics continue to repeat in my head.

ok....

here we go....

Life is a blast when you know what you're doin

Best to know what you're doin 'fore your life gets ruined

:)

Natalie Walker

Her voice floats.

It's part Sarah McLachlan, part Jem.

It was only a few weeks ago when I was listening to Daughter Darling and loved Broken Bridge and their cover of Dust in the Wind and wondered who was singing...but got distracted and never found out. Somewhere between that time and a weekend when I was surfing iTunes that I ran into Natalie Walker and loved her album enough to not download anything (I wanted the CD). It wasn't 'till I got the CD and read through the credits when I was surprised to discover that it was Natalie Walker who sang for Daughter Darling. Urban Angel is her solo album (she has left Daughter Darling).

Life has a funny way of leading you to someone sometimes.

Offseason moves so far...

So far I'm pleased with the acquisition of Dave Roberts and Rich Aurilia. Dave Roberts adds speed and smarts in the lineup and he works hard. I'm really happy to welcome Rich back. I think his time away from the Giants was a blessing as he discovered his versatility as an infielder. I'm not too thirlled about Bengie Molina but I trust Sabean has a reason for choosing him (or maybe I'm just still bitter about these ex-Angels guys ;) ).

16 mil for Bonds? All I can hope for is that they are able to structure the payoff so that the Giants can still go for Zito, Suppan, Sexson, or Burrell. I'm a bit disappointed that they didn't sign Shea Hillenbrand. I had him on my wishlist a long time ago and when the Giants finally got him I expected him to stick around...anyway.

JT Snow coming back to the organization is well deserved. I hope someday we see Kirk Reuter return as well...perhaps to replace Mark Gardner or assist in some capacity. I wouldn't mind seeing Robb Nen in that pen, too.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela

If you ever listened to Kaki King and wondered what would best complement her percussive style of guitar playing, you probably may have (or not) considered a player with a pick and pluck style of play. That's exactly what Rodrigo y Gabriela is...a perfect match of yin and yang. Listening to their original work and even covers (Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven and Metallica's Orion) leaves you appreciating the guitar playing and blending. The absence of vocals doesn't take away anthything from them at all.

The DVD is even better. Aside from seeing them perform live, you get to watch as they tell their story. I was impressed to see how they both started with a heavy metal band and then made the decision to go acoustic. The tutorial is a unique idea and really worth watching.

My favorite track is Ixtapa, which happens to be the only track where they were pleased to have another musician join them.

The Gambler

It was probably two or so months ago that I read about Thea Gilmore, but it wasn't until a couple days ago that I finally decided to listen to tracks in a local Barnes & Noble. The first track (The Gambler) really caught my attention. Sadly, I didn't find anything else in the CD to convince myself to buy the album...so I left it in the rack.

The Gambler continued to play in my mind and so I finally logged in to iTunes and listend to it again. I just couldn't let go. I ended up listening to all the sample tracks from Thea's albums. All in all, I couldn't let go of 3 tracks. It's when Thea slows down that her music becomes haunting and hypnotic.

The Gambler from Harpo's Ghost
Eight Months and Pirate Moon from Avalanche

The Gambler
Roll that dice again again
Once or twice you’ll reel me in
What I’ve got is not what I came for
I’ll keep coming back for more

Lay your head upon my chest
The odds are slim but isn’t that the test
In this game you either bend or break
And I don’t know what kind of mess we’ll make
Come on lay your head upon my chest

Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Spin that wheel, spin that wheel, spin that wheel.

Pull the trigger load the gun
The journey home has only just begun
We could rise but if we swan-dive too
Oh I’ll love going down with you
(come on pull the trigger load the gun)

Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Spin that wheel, spin that wheel, spin that wheel
Come on, come on
Come on, come on
Spin that wheel, spin that wheel, spin that wheel

Eight Months
Indian Summer
Toronto sings
This is the gateway
To everything
Heading south down
The pan American
Lord give me eight months
Eight months
To get it done

Fortaleza
Would make you cry
Cold canyon sunrise
Russian vines
I'll catch these days as
Londons' leaves fall
Lord give me eight months
Eight months
To see it all

Aroura Borealis
The Blue daystar
I'm chasing sunsets, cities, taillights
To get that far

Cut the sky to
Wellington
Then Sydney bathing
In blue neon
Karakorams to rest
In purple skies
Lord Give me eight months
Eight months
To open my eyes

Lord Give me eight months
Eight months
To open my eyes

Pirate Moon
Up in the midnight blue
That's where I'm going to
Up where the sirens scream
Through every misplaced dream

Up with the pirate moon
In bloody Monochrome
That's where I'll call my home
Up where the stars will die

Before they can reach your eyes
Up with the Pirate Moon
Above the mirrored sea
That's where I'm going to be

Up where the whisper fails
In scar tissue of vapour trails
Up with the pirate moon
Up in the cloud ballet
That’s where I'm going to stay
I could just disappear
You cannot reach me here
Up with the pirate moon